Experience, leadership and creativity will meet on the Hixon Lied stage in five student-directed one acts by Creighton’s theater department entitled “A Night of Durang!” that began Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The comedy shows are entirely student- run and produced, with undergraduates doing the directing, acting, set and lighting design, stage management and costumes.

Arts & Sciences seniors Matt DeNoncour, Kathleen Lawler and John-Paul Gurnett are directing “The Actor’s Nightmare,” “Medea” and “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls,” respectively, and Wesley Pourier is directing “Naomi in the Living Room,” “The Hardy Boys” and the “Mystery of Where Babies Come From.”

Christopher Durang is known for being humorous, satirical and somewhat absurdest. Pourier said Durang is a favorite playwright amongst the students because his spoofs and parodies are “outrageous and a little vulgar.”

Theater professor Alan Klem said the plays are appropriate for a mature college audience because they deal with themes such as homosexuality and bondage and poke fun at areas of American society and other playwrights.

“I’d compare it to a hard core Saturday Night Live,” Klem said.

DeNoncour encourages students to take a study break from finals. “It’s going to be a great night – absolutely hilarious,” he said.

The seniors have been working for about a month to see their interpretations of the plays come to the stage. Pourier said a general rule is that for every minute the actors are on stage they should have an hour of rehearsal.

“Directing is time consuming. But they’re used to that – they’ve been onstage as actors and several have directed before. They enjoy it or they wouldn’t do it,” Klem said.

Theater Coordinator Bill Van Deest said the goal of these shows is to let students see the inner workings of what it takes to put on a production from beginning to end. They usually don’t come in contact with paying royalties, doing publicity, coming up with a concept, following through and communicating with their designers, crew and actors. “We let them have the opportunity to fail,” Van Deest said.

Although the one acts are separate pieces, the directors work together and help each other out. They have had collective rehearsals and group warm-ups, and directors take notes on each other’s plays. Pourier said the shows have helped him learn to collaborate. “You can’t say the word ‘just’ – ‘Let’s just put on a show.’ There’s a lot of time and work that goes with ‘just’, and all the people to get it done,” DeNoncour said.

“I’m proud of the whole evening. I get excited and pumped because the theater is ours for a month and we get to throw something on stage that is completely ours. That’s what we’re all really proud of,” Pourier said.